The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known as Osteospermum ecklonis and referred to by the cultivar name Beira.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aabyhoj, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program was to create new Osteospermum cultivars with interesting ray floret colors and heat-tolerance.
The new cultivar originated from a cross made by the Inventor in 1995 of the nonpatented Osteospermum ecklonis cultivar Ivory as the female, or seed, parent and a proprietary selection of Osteospermum ecklonis identified as 949339 as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Osteospermum was selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of this cross in a controlled environment in Aabyhoj, Denmark, in 1996.
Plants of the new cultivar are different from plants of the female parent, the cultivar Ivory, in plant habit, ray floret color and inflorescence form.
Plants of the new Osteospermum are different from plants of the male parent, the selection 949339, in plant habit, ray and disc color and inflorescence form.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings at Aabyhoj, has shown that the unique features of this new Osteospermum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.